FIELD HOCKEY: Norristown edges Abington, 1-0, on late tally

It took Norristown about 58 minutes, but it finally got the best of Abington in a 1-0 victory. The Eagles had the ball in the Abington end for the vast majority of the game, but it took a goal by Keifonna Fergeson with two minutes remaining to seal the win.

“I was shocked that we didn’t score sooner, but their goalie was very scrappy,” Norristown coach Stacie Staufenberg said.

The first half was owned by Norristown, but it just could not put the ball in the net. Despite keeping the ball in the final third for minutes at a time, disconnected passes and missed opportunities kept the Eagles off the scoreboard.

“We were trying to get that extra pass to get past the goalkeeper, but it didn’t work,” Staufenberg said. “We just couldn’t get past her, we were lucky to get the one goal.”

Another factor that kept them off the scoreboard was Abington’s Faith Geating. The Ghosts’ goalkeeper had nine of her 13 saves in the first half, sprawling across the mouth of goal to stop all shots that came her way. She was also very vocal and made good decisions when coming past the crease to kick balls away. Geating kept the Ghosts in for the majority of the game.

“Faith is a three-year varsity starter and has been coming up with great saves for us every game,” Abington coach Amanda Deering said. “She is definitely our star keeper.”

The second stanza brought more of the same for Norristown. Abington got on the occasional fast break, but its transition game never had teeth as the rest of the team did not run with the attackers streaking forward. Katherine Geating had a particularly good game going forward, but she mostly ended up running into the Norristown defense.

“I think we needed our midfield and backs to support our offense once they got the ball, which is something we are continually working on,” Deering said. “At times we would have one player try and do it all themself and we broke away from team play. If we could maintain team play for 60 minutes we would be better off.”

After almost an entire game of offensive pressure and numerous set pieces in the second half, the Eagles finally broke through. Fergeson got possession of the ball on the right side of goal, powered through the defense and deposited the ball in the net, finally beating Geating to clinch the win.

“She had a nice game, she picked it up after our time out,” Staufenberg said. “She needed to step it up and she did. It was good to see, I’m glad we came out on top.”

Abington has not scored a goal in three games, but Deering believes it is not a mental issue.

“We get the transition game, but then all of a sudden there is a big gap between the attack and the rest of the players. It’s a confidence thing. I think we have it at times, but others we break down. We need to put one in the cage, it would be nice to do it next game.”